Benchmarking the redesign of 'business process reengineering' curriculum: A continuous process improvement (CPI)

摘要

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the application of business process reengineeringrn(BPR) and benchmarking principles to redesign an undergraduate course on BPR to achieverncontinuous improvements. The principles are applied on a course on BPR in the curriculum ofrnengineering management (EM) program at Stevens Institute of Technology. The EM program aims tornprovide the students the knowledge and skills, which are necessary to work effectively at the interfacernbetween technology, management, and engineering. BPR course (EM435) is recently added to EMrnprogram's curriculum to support the need for providing the bridge between the engineering of systemsrnand business operations.rnDesign/methodology/approach - The research approach design is laid out from the time thernEM435 course is first offered in the fall of 2006 to the senior year EM students. The students arernsurveyed and areas of redesign and improvements are identified based on benchmarking againstrnABET criteria and their associated outcomes, student expectations, similar academic courses, andrnindustry expectations of skills and knowledge.rnFindings - The identification of the improvement areas in the BPR curriculum leads to a continuousrnprocess improvement (CPI) initiative, which has been continued in a more structured manner. Researchrnfindings indicate a strong support for more case studies, use of BPR tool, and real-life project in theirrninvestigation of effective pedagogy for teaching BPR to engineering undergraduates.rnResearch limitations/implications - This paper demonstrates the value of applyingrnbenchmarking and CPI methodology in maintaining effective teaching and learning of BPR concepts.rnMore empirical metrics can be developed in future to measure the success of course, improvements.rnPractical implications - The findings of this research will promote adoption of courses on BPR andrnlay a foundation for BPR curriculum in engineering. The CPI approach will provide opportunities tornanalyze improvements over a period of time.rnOriginality/value - This paper is unique in its application of benchmarking and CPI for improvingrnBPR curriculum at an undergraduate engineering level.